A 56-year-old man from Little Neston has been jailed for two years after deceiving a buyer of a Helsby pub by artificially inflating its profits.

Stephen Thomas Currie from The Meadows, Little Neston, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, October 4, after pleading guilty to fraud.

Currie was convicted after making false representations over the sale of the Helsby Arms pub in Helsby.

The court heard how he altered VAT documents with the intention of making a gain from the sale of the Helsby Arms Public House, which he owned.

His victim, a 54 year-old-man from Chester, bought the pub on Chester Road in the belief that it was a viable, profitable business, when it in fact was not.

He invested the sale of his house to purchase the business and, as a result of Currie’s dishonesty, lost both his life savings and family home.

Detective Constable Robert Snasdell, of Cheshire’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “I am delighted that at the end of a lengthy investigation some justice has been achieved for the victim who has lost everything at the hands of this fraudster.

“This result shows that exploiting your position within a business in order to commit fraud will never have beneficial results.

“His sentence should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that at Cheshire Constabulary we will utilise all resources at our disposal to ensure you are brought to justice.”